Here are two images of camellia blossoms. I had some problems with heavy red saturation in the shadows. Does anyone have any tips for processing images that are all one color? I look forward to your comments. Thanks for looking.

I think you will do better if you can do some focus stacking when shooting opening buds like these. There are very few things which only have a singular color. You might want to explore working in channels though when working with a monochromatic (the full range of any one color) color to bettercontrol your deepest shadows and lightest light.

Thanks for taking a look. I am just starting to try focus stacking, but not on these shots. I wanted to try to work with the depth of field of the lens and incorporate the out of focus parts into the photo. I have had issues with parallax when stacking such that the background, when in focus, is obscured by closer out of focus parts, like anthers and stamen, leaving a halo around them. I have thought of removing the offending bits after they have been shot in focus but haven't tried that yet.

I need more practice on RGB curves. I tend to use LAB when I want to affect color.

Thanks for taking a look. I am just starting to try focus stacking, but not on these shots. I wanted to try to work with the depth of field of the lens and incorporate the out of focus parts into the photo. I have had issues with parallax when stacking such that the background, when in focus, is obscured by closer out of focus parts, like anthers and stamen, leaving a halo around them. I have thought of removing the offending bits after they have been shot in focus but haven't tried that yet.

I need more practice on RGB curves. I tend to use LAB when I want to affect color.

By the way, I really like your B&W succulent photo!

Michael

The succulent was a focus stack as well and I had to remove a lot of overlap halo blurs...weird stuff so I know the problem there. You know you can also work in channels in the curveand levels dialogues.

Are you using cloning to clean up the halos? That is a lot of work! I do know you can work on individual channels in curves etc. I just don't have much experience using them in RGB. That is Lightrooms fault, since I don't have to use curves much on my RAW photos. The scanned slides are another story, and learning curve. Thanks again for your help.

I like to comment in two areas:1) Execution/craft2) Artistic composition/originality

...so...

1) Really nice execution. I see no particular flaws to the shadows. You have done a really superior job of lighting and photographing these flowers, and I would be proud to have taken these shots. 2) It is beautiful. excellent composition...but nothing new in the originality department. I don't mean that to sound as horrible as it comes off.

Thank you for your comments. I am pretty happy with both shots. They convey the soft pastel mood and feeling I was after. I am learning to love out of focus areas!Sincerely,

Michael

In all seriousness, that's one of the most encouraging things I've read in LuLa recently. I find the widespread obsession with technical games to be almost lethal to my interest in photography. All this manipulation etc. seems to me to have replaced the art of photography with a new medium: the mechanics of new photography. It leaves me stone cold - worse, it kills off the remaining interest that I have in pictures after a life in the business.

Thank you for commenting. I am pleased you find the shots technically acceptable. Composition is something I have always worked on to improve. I mainly am trying to make photographs that please me. It is really enjoyable when others are pleased with my efforts too.

Your comment on originality is taken with no offense! Originality in photography would be a good topic to start a thread with, especially here on LuLa. There are so many fine photographers and almost as many opinions. I have to admit that originality is not something I dwell on too much with my photography. When I thought about it a bit, after reading your post, I ended up thinking that the word is open to a lot of interpretation. For instance, is making a photograph original? Would originality come from subject, technique, personal vision, or what?

In all seriousness, that's one of the most encouraging things I've read in LuLa recently. I find the widespread obsession with technical games to be almost lethal to my interest in photography. All this maniplation etc. seems to me to have replaced the art of photography with a new medium: the mechanics of new photography. It leaves me stone cold - worse, it kills off the remaining interest that I have in pictures after a life in the business.

Thank God for some old-fashioned respect for natural photography!

Rob C

Hi Rob-

It can be pretty easy to get caught up in all the technical possibilities. While there are some really cool tools we can use now, I think one must be intelligent in their use. To me every picture does not require HDR or Focus Stacking. I have found that the limits imposed by equipment can be very helpful by limiting the choices you have to make. I think that comes from my film days when we had to decide up front black and white or color? Positive or negative? etc. I like the detachment from reality that photography enables and am rarely ever trying to recreate reality. Rather, I am trying to distort and shift reality. If your desired result is a flawless recreation of the world in a 2 dimensional medium, then focus stack and HDR all you want. For disclosure, I have tried HDR and focus stacking and find both to be extremely interesting and possibly useful for some pictures.